Many of us sense that there is something very wrong with the policy ideas the GOP has been pursuing. To understand this, we need to look at the explicit philosophy that has been motivating activists on the American right since the 1980s. In this brief essay, I seek to explain the source and origin of the deep philosophic confusion in the GOP today.
There are two strands to the ideology held by many...

Since the ethical and political disaster of electing Trump, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to move to the next iteration of the political Enlightenment, which is dying rapidly. (Conservatives and liberals are both quite lost in this regard. Anarchists are worse off: delusional.)
The primary need of this new paradigm will to be the jettisoning of the assumption that society can function well...

It’s important for the public to know that the American far right has been deliberately whipping up resentment since Nixon. Below is an excerpt from the linked article in the New York Review of Books. Kevin Phillips was a well known conservative figure in the 1980s. Note the nasty goals spelled out for the GOP in this book ghostwritten for Goldwater, who famously claimed that extremism in politics is...

There is tremendous pressure in American civilization today coming from two forces: a philosophy that claims that “big government” is bad, and with it anything associated with a pro government philosophy we lived under from 1933 until 1980. The other force is religious fanaticism, which began to grow deeper roots in the US for the first time in its history between November 9 1989 and September...

I have not yet met a secular liberal, and very few religious liberals, who have shown they grasp a) that the pursuit of a deep moral relativism after 1973 and b) the turn away from the common-sense focus of the Democratic Party prior to 1973 (when the McGovernites took over the party) has delivered the country directly into the hands of radicals on the right over the last 45 years. Second topic that has...

Terence Hoyt earned an MA in Economics from Fordham University in 1984, and a PhD in Philosophy fromTulane University in 2000. Between 1993 and 2012, I lived in New Orleans. Earlier on, I lived in Paris and Berlin for one year each. In 2012, after teaching philosophy for 15 years I returned to school to earn an MSW and then returned to upstate New York where I grew up.
My hope is for this site to increase understanding of the American political-economic system. I believe that the brighest among us do not adequately understand or appreciate American civilization. Too many among us take "the system" for granted, focus on a particular "cause" and then ignore what would keep our political-economy running well. I take the position that this problem needs to be viewed as a crisis of philosophy. It was good political philosophy that was responsible for our system and it is dysfunctional political philosophy that influences many activists to take stances undermine our economic as well as moral-spiritual well being. As of January 2017, we are in a crisis involving an unholy alliance between philosophical extremism and the usual suspects: the few who would manipulate the many to gain more wealth, power and privilege. With Plato, I believe that unless sober philosopher-types get involved in the daily affairs of public life, there will be no end to troubles. It is time for public intellectuals as well as academics in the humanities and social sciences to go back to the cave!

Seeking financial assistance for book editor

I am currently in the process of completing a book on the American political project I have been working on for six years. This book will be the culmination of years of studying, researching and thinking about what has made the America system so successful in enabling citizens to live peaceful and prosperous lives. The key to understanding this success is simple: harnessing the natural motives of four types of human beings. My goal is to educate public intellectuals, educators, and activists. I am asking for help paying for an editor for this book. I estimate the cost to be around $5,000. You can donate with the Pay Pal button below. If you would like to talk with me personally, please email me at "terencehoyt@gmail.com". I have posted the first sections of the book on the "Book Project" tab.